Pena de muerte

This Spanish giallo takes us from Paris to Galicia in Spain, following on his holidays the French public prosecutor Oscar (Fernando Rey, Coartada en disco rojo), an "implacable defender of the law", who makes it his duty to sentence to death bloody murderers. Oscar is married to a much younger wife, Patricia (Marisa Mell, Alta Tension), and in their hostel she meets a former lover, Will (Espartaco Santoni, Ceremonia sangrienta, from the same), a writer in criminology who interests himself in trials attended by Oscar.

And horrible murders, real "violent blood bath", start to occur in the quiet touristic place, reacting the crimes prosecuted years ago in Paris by Oscar. Who is the mysterious killer who seems to seek revenge upon the death of the condemned former murderers? A young couple, Javier (Maximo Valverde, Estratto dagli archivi segreti), an actor, and Laura (Elisa Laguna, Chicas de Club, from the same), are soon suspected, but the local inspector Navarro (Julian Navarro, La Decente) is even less efficient than usual, and he lets Oscar lead the investigation.

The plot is indeed very predictable, and the well designed pictures of the director don't remedy to the global lack of thrill. In fact, the film is a pleading against the "penalty of death", at this time still in force in the Francoist Spain. (Viewed in English 1h32 version.)

It's not very violent, there's just a bit of blood, and there's a swimming pool but no baths in this interesting giallo from the director of The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue.

Fernando Rey is a nervous, OCD-afflicted Judge on holiday with his young wife Marissa Mell, who is trying her hardest to put up with all his quirks. Both have problems. Fernando discovers that a money order has been sent to a man he condemned to death three years after his execution, and this money seems to have been sent by the dead man himself. This not only prompts some flashbacks, but also leads him to discover that a family has been brutally murdered in the exact same way the executed man carried out his initial attacks.

Marissa Mell's problems is that her ex-boyfriend has reappeared on the scene and Fernando's behaviour isn't exactly helping her stay faithful, so while he's off trying to track down some copy-cat killer this ex of hers is giving her the eyeball, putting the moves on her, but is he legit or is he up to something? When other crimes start to be recreated, things get a bit desperate for Fernando.

If you've watched several hundred of these films already you may find that this one is easy to solve, but when you've got Fernando Rey in the main role that's okay, because he's a fascinating actor to watch. Other than that, this is a bit of a lightweight giallo without the cheese or over the top madness we've come to expect. Not a bad film though.

There's a rich history of rebranding well-made Italian and Spanish crime thrillers that had perfectly good titles with a sensationalised title for release abroad. Fulci's 'One on Top of the Other' comes to mind, presented in America with the tawdry title, 'Perversion Story'. In the case of 'Pena de Muerte' ('Death Penalty'), the English title, 'Violent Blood Bath', is so terribly inaccurate, it would have scared away the intended audience and attracted an audience who would have been severely disappointed with the content.

While 'Pena de Muerte' isn't exactly a Hitchcock-level thriller, it does have an intriguing premise I have never seen: a prosecutor well-known for successfully convicting murderers (and sending them to death) suddenly has a copycat murderer recreating the crimes of the cases he's prosecuted. Played by veteran actor Fernando Rey, the prosecutor has to help the cops unravel this mystery as the deaths get closer and closer to him.

Giallo regular Marisa Mell plays his wife, and really gets to show off her acting chops. The direction is above average and it moves along at a nice pace. Other than some minor quibbles with logic, the only major flaw for me was that the twist is pretty obvious. A couple of well-placed red herrings would have helped.

While it's not exactly a 'violent blood bath', to the disappointment of horror and giallo fans, 'Pena de Muerte' does live up to its original name, which makes a lot more sense by the end of the film.

Bloodless Soap Opera

This is by far one of the least bloody giallo out there. It is very slow to start. And slow throughout. It's filmed and acted in a manner reminiscent of a soap opera. There is little mystery about who the killer is. You'll figure it out quickly even if you didn't read the tagline.

There is one final twist in the last seconds of the film which I did not see coming, and I really appreciated it. That was the strongest part of the film imo.

Overall, I'd say to skip this lackluster effort.

Seventh film of Jorge Grau that I watched, and it only confirmed he is one of my favorite filmmakers, a great auteur who, for some weird reason, has not received the attention he deserves.

Based on a work of Guy de Maupassant, the film is a breathtaking psychological thriller with one of the most intelligent plot twist I ever saw. Fernando Rey is superb as a magistrate that believes in death penalty as a way of protecting society. He is a troubled marriage, and his wife (played by the excellent Marisa Mell) is having an affair with a writer who opposes to Rey's vision and is determined to prove his thesis in a new book. Strange murders that imitate the ones committed by the criminals condemned to death by the magistrate starts to happen, and an investigation takes place. But, nothing is what seems in this sordid story written by Grau and Juan Tébar, and I can't reveal more to avoid spoilers.

Be careful with the title given to it in the USA, "Violent Blood Bath". Fans of gore may be seduced by this misleading title, and the fact IMDb puts "horror" as one of its genre doesn't help. There is no blood bath here, and the murders all occur off screen. This is the kind of movie where what matters is the character development, and it excells in this department.

Impecably shot, photographed, edited and scored, "Pena de Muerte" deals with a controversial topic without falling in the mere sensationalism or sounding preachy. It is not easy to say if the script is supporting or opposing death penaulty, and this is one of its merits. The last half hour will make you devour all your fingernails, in one of the most brilliant exercises in tension.

Thanks to Vinegar Syndrome for the excellent restoration of this masterpiece. I hope more works of the underrated Jorge Grau receives the same treatment soon.